On the night of 13 to 14 January 2024, Guadeloupe’s Direction Territoriale de la Police Nationale (DTPN), the territorial police directorate, set up surveillance on the beaches of Le Gosier after a tip from the maritime gendarmerie and customs.[1] At 1:15 a.m. on 14 January, officers of the BST (Brigade Spécialisée de Terrain), a specialist field unit, and the BAC (Brigade Anti-Criminalité), an anti-crime brigade, arrested six people on Anse à Jacques beach in Le Gosier.[1] Officers caught the six in the act of landing drugs from a boat, which police seized with its cargo.[2]
Police reported seizing 186 kilograms of cannabis herb in the operation.[1] The same cargo included 10.9 kilograms of cocaine, mentioned here only as context and excluded from cannabis figures.[2] The OFAST detachment (Office Anti-Stupéfiants), the French anti-drug office, of the Territorial Judicial Police Service took over the investigation.[1]
Police described the seizure as the second large drug seizure by police services since the start of 2024.[1] Eight days earlier, in the night of 5 to 6 January, 366 kilograms of cocaine had been seized on Petit Havre beach in Le Gosier and several people arrested.[1] That earlier case was transferred to the Juridiction Interrégionale Spécialisée in Fort-de-France, the interregional specialist court for serious organised crime.[1]
